Homelessness

A gay sauna in Indonesia has been raided, and 58 have been arrested, in what some say is another sign of the country’s anti-LGBT backlash.

Police raided the sauna late on Friday, after allegations from the public that it was being used for prostitution, and Indonesian police spokesperson Argo Yuwono says seven people will be charged under the country’s pornography laws.

Senior Indonesian researcher at Human Rights Watch, Andreas Harsono, says the raid is part of an anti-LGBT campaign in Indonesia.

Homosexuality is not illegal in the country, but the small LGBT community faces growing hostility from police and the community.

Queensland’s Liberal National Party said they will close supervised bail accommodation for juvenile offenders if elected to government, instead putting minors in prisons.
Photo from Flickr.

The Labor party announced plans last week to roll out specialised centres over the next few months, designed to house between four and 12 children who had been charged with an offence but were yet to face court and were unable to return home.

Currently, minors awaiting trial but unable to go home make up about 80% of the population of youth detention facilities in Queensland.

Swearing some would argue is a part of Australian life. What some consider as bad language, is becoming more accepted and used in contemporary society. While Australia is seen internationally as a very laid back country, most would be surprised with how strict our laws are in terms of swearing in public. All states and territories in Australia have some law that criminalises bad language in public. In Queensland from June of 2016 to June 2017, 1,687 people were charged with offensive language directed at a police officer.

The Anti Poverty Network SEQ recently occupied a house in Lytton Road to demonstrate the amount of houses that are unoccupied. They believe these houses should be become available and repurposed to the homeless community in Brisbane. Brisbane Line reporter Jack McDonnell spoke to an organiser from Anti Poverty Network SEQ, Feargal McGovern during the occupation and also later about what the occupation was about and what went down.

If you have lived in West End for a significant amount of time you may have noticed the area around you has been changing. The increase of population, rental and property prices has the suburb once known for it’s bohemian atmosphere transforming into Brisbane’s latest gentrified hub, forcing lower income earners out.

(Image source: flickr.com/photos/adelaide_archivist)
Australian Bureau of Statistics experts are warning the marriage equality postal survey is vulnerable to voter fraud because Australians will not be given individual identifiers.

The idea of a secret vote could be contradicted if ballots include personal identifiers, as the ABS would be able to match voters opinions on same-sex marriage with other personal information.

Despite this implication, former ABS chief, Bill McLennan, is warning if voters are not sent an individual identifier, the ABS will struggle to determine who has voted, creating opportunity for voter fraud to occur.

This week prominent NSW politicians like premier Gladys Berejiklian and Sydney Lord Mayor Clover Moore have been publicly arguing over whose responsibility it is to move on a growing homeless encampment from Martin Place in Sydney's CBD.

One voice that hasn't been given much prominence though is that of the people living in the camp, which has been providing food, shelter and community since December.

A fourth “de-escalation zone” has been established in Syria, the Russian Defence Ministry’s spokesperson says.

Russia has been an ally to Syrian Armed Forces and National Defence Forces since the Civil War started in 2011.

Spokesperson Igor Konashenkov said on Thursday on Russian TV that the ministry and Syria’s opposition agreed on a ceasefire starting Thursday afternoon in the new zone north of the city of Homs, which is located about 162 kilometres north of Damascus.